Entryways in commercial and residential buildings serve several important purposes in their role as a transition from an exterior to an interior environment. The primary goal of an entryway is to allow for ingress and egress while insulating the interior from the exterior. Entryways are intended to prevent intrusion of rainwater. Entryways are also intended to prevent passage of air through the entryway when a door panel is in the closed position, to keeping out cold air in the winter and keeping in air conditioned air in the summer. Entryways can also enhance the appearance of a building using window features, French door arrangements, and varying finishes of sill decks.
Most entryways begin with the same set of base components. Nearly all entryways are framed by a header jamb connected across the top of two vertical side jambs. The bottom of the entryway is then defined by a threshold. These thresholds are typically comprised of a substrate, a sill deck and a threshold cap. The substrate provides a base for the sill deck. The sill deck provides a durable tread surface covering the substrate. The threshold cap fills a channel in, or adjacent to, the substrate to form a sealing surface with the bottom of a door panel.
Sill decks and threshold caps are often installed in the entryway of buildings relatively early in the construction process in order to close the building to the environment. After installation, a significant amount of construction work remains to be performed within the house or building. This continued heavy traffic of workers entering the building, including the movement of substantial equipment and materials, can often lead to denting, scuffing or scratching of the sill deck. Other substances can also stain the threshold during construction, such as dripping paint, stain, or masonry mortar.
Protective covers have been disclosed that are designed to temporarily remain on the threshold during construction. These protective covers help to protect the surface of the sill deck and threshold cap from damage during construction and can be removed by the builder after completion of the final walk through and clean up, to preserve the “like new” appearance of the entryway of the new house.
Besides being susceptible to physical damage, water intrusion between the sill deck and the protective cover can lead to staining of the sill deck. In order to be removable, protective covers are typically manufactured shorter than the threshold so that the protective cover is able to fit between the installed door jambs. As a result, the ends of the sill deck are exposed, allowing water and other debris to find its way between the protective cover and the sill deck. If water becomes trapped between the sill deck and the protective cover, this standing water can cause the surface of the sill deck to oxidize, staining the sill deck and eliminating the intended “like new” appearance. There remains a need for a protective cover that addresses these and other limitations of existing covers.